Milestones Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 I've been digging into Billy Higgins' music quite deeply of late. I noted him as one of the most distinguished of Blue Note sideman, with immense contributions to albums by Morgan, Mobley, Gordon, McLean, and countless others. He was the drummer on Rejoicing, which may be Metheny's best record. The man had important partnerships with Ornette, Charles Lloyd, Cedar Walton, Clifford Jordan, Charlie Haden, and more. I know he did very little as a strict leader, but I just listened to the title track of Soweto and it sounded quite fine. Offer your praise. I'm pretty sure we all love Billy Higgins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Yes, one of the greats. His way of swinging seemed so effortless while having an equal amount of heft. For whatever reason I couldn't get that into his leader dates but I feel like that was partly due to the sidemen. I was at Cooper-Moore's apartment the day the news about Billy's death broke. It was a heavy day. I remember it well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeith Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 I am a huge fan. Blue Note contributions ...oh yeah. Later years I enjoyed him as part of the first incarnation of Charlie Haden's Quartet West. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 A prior thread on Higgins can be found here. There's a great anecdote about Hig and Ben Webster, via Larry Kart, here. Probably my favorite description of Higgins's style is in his NYT obituary: His style did not draw attention to itself and could not be described by mannerisms; his musicianship simply raised the standard of every band he played in. Here's a great assessment of Hig by Mike Zwerin, also from the Times. Higgins simply made every date sound better. I saw him at the Jazz Standard in NYC a little before his passing. I was surprised by the gig, especially leading a band, because I knew he had been ill. The all-star band included Curtis Fuller, John Ore, James Spaulding, and Don Sickler; don't remember who was on piano. They sounded great, did a bunch of BN tunes (probably transcribed by Sickler). At the end, Hig introduced each band member by which subway stop they were located near; pretty funny! Someone should contact Sickler as to whether the gigs were recorded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Higgins is one of my all time favorites. There are two tracks that really made me take notice of and appreciate his skills, Morgan's "The Gigolo" and Mobley's "The Morning After". Seeing him listed as a sideman always confirmed to me there was no way the drum playing was going to suck. Great style, power and grace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Friedman Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Higgins was /is among my very favorite drummers. His strength was in playing a significant role in making a group swing and sound better. There are other drummers I prefer as a soloist, but as a sideman he was simply excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Perhaps my favorite Higgins soloing is on Sonny Rollins' 1962 Village Gate recordings. He's also essential to The Shape of Jazz To Come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheorghe Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 One of my all time favourites. Maybe the first listening experience besides the classic Ornette Coleman stuff was his playing with Sonny Rollins, Don Cherry, Henry Grimes in 1963 in Europe. Wonderful drummer. And I saw and heard him life at least two times. One time it was with George Coleman Quartet, with Hilton Ruiz, Ray Drummond and Billy Higgins. But the most powerful thing I heard, and I tell you one thing, it was one of the very very best concerts I ever was blessed to witness, it was an all star band led by Jackie McLean, with Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Lewis and Billy Higgins. I remember it as if it would have been yesterday: The first tune was a very extended version of "Blue ´n Boogie" with everybody soloing, and after a very interesting somehow very percussive bass solo from Mr. Lewis Billy Higgins started his solo with a powerwork starting on the snare I never heard something as sharp and hip and powerful as this solo. A second huge solo spot for Higgins was on Salt Peanuts......., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 25 minutes ago, Gheorghe said: But the most powerful thing I heard, and I tell you one thing, it was one of the very very best concerts I ever was blessed to witness, it was an all star band led by Jackie McLean, with Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Lewis and Billy Higgins. I remember it as if it would have been yesterday: The first tune was a very extended version of "Blue ´n Boogie" with everybody soloing, and after a very interesting somehow very percussive bass solo from Mr. Lewis Billy Higgins started his solo with a powerwork starting on the snare I never heard something as sharp and hip and powerful as this solo. A second huge solo spot for Higgins was on Salt Peanuts......., One of the best concerts I ever saw included Jackie McLean fronting his quartet with Cedar Walton, David Williams & Billy Higgins. Like you, I'll remember that one for the rest of my life. It was special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 All these recording feat. the combo with Cedar Walton + Sam Jones from the 70`s are testimony for his incredible drumming .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 I was lucky to see him several times with different incarnations of the Eastern Rebellion quartet - always swinging, tasty, and very dynamic - and big ears! One of the great drummers in jazz history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 A very wonderful drummer. I first heard him on record with the Sonny Rollins band (w. Don Cherry), one of the first jazz records I bought. The only time I caught him live he was sitting in the café at Bloomingdales in Manhattan listening to a Jane Ira Bloom quartet with Billy Hart on drums. Mr. Higgins was smiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Good memories of seeing ‘Eastern Rebellion’ and other Walton groups of later vintage with Billy Higgins too but my favourite appearance was when he was with the late 70s George Coleman Quartet - the one with Herbie Lewis and Hilton Ruiz. Those were the days ! 1 hour ago, paul secor said: Mr. Higgins was smiling. Never saw him when he wasn’t smiling. Used to light up the stage ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Let's not forget his community work with The World Stage in Los Angeles. What does it say about the country that a man who gave so much (and appeared on so many records) needed financial help when he became sick near the end of his life? Charles Lloyd and his wife took care of him and organized a fund to help him out. The first time I saw Charles perform in Santa Barbara he dedicated his concert to Billy Higgins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 and the Higgins and Lloyd duo album on ECM, 'Which Way is East' is the sound of that friendship. A distillation of their work together on some of Lloyd's other ECM releases too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 I'll buy a record with Billy Higgins on it even if I don't know who anybody else is. Not just a drummer, a SPIRIT!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) Edited March 23, 2018 by Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 56 minutes ago, Joe said: Yeah! Sandy Bull recorded with Billy Higgins a couple of times and later with Denis Charles. He picked good drummers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 16 hours ago, medjuck said: Let's not forget his community work with The World Stage in Los Angeles. What does it say about the country that a man who gave so much (and appeared on so many records) needed financial help when he became sick near the end of his life? Charles Lloyd and his wife took care of him and organized a fund to help him out. The first time I saw Charles perform in Santa Barbara he dedicated his concert to Billy Higgins. Yeah, that was sad that they had to do all those fundraisers to help Billy get his liver transplant. I sent in what I could and Billy himself sent me a thank you via postcard. I still have it somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon8 Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 Certainly one of my favorites as well. First album that came to mind, strangely, is his sole (I think?) collaboration with Andrew Hill, Dance With Death, where he's the key player for me, making light out of Hill's darker leanings. And you gotta love his picture in the booklet, where he manages to rock a turtleneck, a leather jacket and a funky hat: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Kevin Bresnahan said: Yeah, that was sad that they had to do all those fundraisers to help Billy get his liver transplant. I sent in what I could and Billy himself sent me a thank you via postcard. I still have it somewhere. I have one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 55 minutes ago, mjzee said: I have one too. I'd forgotten about that. Now, of course, I can't remember where it is. I did get thanked by Charles and his wife when I ran into them on the beach once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 I've been working on a BN boogaloo playlist on YouTube so I've been listening to lots of Billy, he owned that groove. But it was still only a small part of what he did. I'm a huge fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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